Made-in-Brooklyn speakers have handsome design and gorgeous sound

I've heard and liked DeVore Fidelity speakers before, but the new Orangutan 0/93 was different. Even when listening to mostly unfamiliar music I fell in love with the sound from the get-go. The Orangutan 0/93 brings out the best in all genres of music.

That's the key; all speakers play tunes, but they don't always connect the musical dots as well as this. I've heard lots of speakers that sound really nice, but for one reason or another the music doesn't draw you in. No problem here, the Orangutan 0/93 does just the opposite; the music's emotional pull was powerful last Thursday night at the In Living Stereo store in NYC. The tunes were nonstop, there was folky singer/songwriter Mickey Newbury, plus large helpings of blues, jazz, and an ethereal Robert Wyatt LP. The music sounded organic and real.

The Orangutan 0/93 is a 35.5-inch-tall floor-standing speaker with a 10-inch paper cone woofer and a 1-inch silk dome tweeter. The craftsmanship and overall build quality are exceptional. The speaker was primarily designed for use with low-power tube amps, but great solid-state amps like my First Watt J2 amp would probably sound terrific with the $8,400-per-pair Orangutan 0/93.

The last LP of the evening was Jimi Hendrix's "Axis: Bold as Love." I've probably heard this record hundreds of times before, but the Orangutan 0/93 made it sound new again. Hendrix's guitar feedback and distortion revealed new layers of depth and texture. Hendrix's vocals were more fully developed and human; he sounded like he was there. That's what great hi-fis always aspire to, but don't always deliver.

In Living Stereo isn't just a hi-fi shop, it's also a terrific, all-vinyl record shop with a tasty selection of new and used LPs. I bought guitar slinger Duane Eddy's long-out-of-print "Does Bob Dylan" LP a few weeks ago, and it's been in heavy rotation on my VPI turntable ever since.